ASSIGNMENT OF GOVERNM ENT LANDS Land Cell 2 ASSIGNMENT OF GOVERNMENT LANDS TO THE LANDLESS POOR CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS INTRODUCTION PDF

Preview

Summary

ASSIGNMENT OF GOVERNM ENT LANDS Land Cell 1 ASSIGNMENT OF GOVERNMENT LANDS TO THE LANDLESS POOR CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS INTRODUCTION India, being a Country with predominantly rural economy, agricultural land plays a vital role in providing livelihood to the majority of rural population in this Count...

Description

ASSIGNMENT OF GOVERNM ENT LANDS

Land Cell

1

ASSIGNMENT OF GOVERNMENT LANDS TO THE LANDLESS POOR CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS INTRODUCTION India, being a Country with predominantly rural economy, agricultural land plays a vital role in providing livelihood to the majority of rural population in this Country. Out of the total work force in the Country 41% depend on agriculture and land related livelihoods in this Country. In Andhra Pradesh 70% of population depend on agriculture and land related activities for their livelihood. Therefore Land and its ownership will be a matter of utmost importance to the majority of rural population in the state, especially to the poorer sections of the society. In view of this, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of Land Administration in the State.

Today’s land administration consists of three basic units. 1.

Survey Settlement Department deals with demarcation of boundaries of individual holdings, measurement and classification.

2.

The Revenue Department deals with maintenance of land records, land administration, fixation of land revenue demand and mainly collection of land revenue from the land holders.

3.

Registration Department deals with registration of land transactions relating to immoveable properties (Land, Site and Building).

These three departments are existing in every State of India.

Their

composition, powers, functions, administrative control, etc., largely vary from State to State.

2

SURVERY AND SETTLEMENT Ø Survey

: The main purpose is to prepare accurate record of all holdings in a village. Survey department prepares village maps and Field Measurement Books.

Ø Settlements : The procedure by which the assessment is determined. Is styled as :”Settlement of Land Revenue” BACK GROUND:

Before going to the main subject of assignment of

Government lands, it is pertinent to know about the history and evolution of the Board of Revenue before and after Independence. In the Andhra Area, the origin of the Board of Revenue takes us back to the Presidency of Madras, in the Madras State. The Board of Revenue was formed on 20 th June, 1786, with the sanction of the Court of Directors of the East India Company. The powers and the mode of carrying on the business of the Board are contained in Regulation 1 of 1803. As time went on, the powers and functions of the Board of Revenue increased by several subsequent Regulations. It became more powerful body in the administration. In the Telangana Area, the supervision over the District Administration was in the hands of four Regional Commissioners called Subedars until the establishment of Hyderabad Board of Revenue vide Regulations 1358 Fasli (1949).

After the formation of State of Andhra Pradesh, the Government acting under Section 122 of the States Reorganisation Act issued G.O.Ms.No.1270, Revenue Department dated.3-7-1957 specifying among other things, the Board of Revenue, functioning in Andhra area immediately before 1-11-1956 as the competent authority to exercise functions exercisable under the Hyderabad Board of Revenue Regulations of 1358 Fasli.

Thus the Unified Board of

Revenue functioned for the entire State from 1-11-1956 till the replacement of

3

Unified Board of Revenue by Commissioners vide A.P. Board of Revenue (Replacement by Commissioners) Act, 1977. Thereafter the Commissioners are appointed in the place of Revenue Board Members. BOARD STANDING ORDERS (Now called CSOs) : The Board Standing Orders were formulated by composite Madras Revenue Board in the year 1878. These orders are collections of resolutions made by the Board for its own conduct of business, as well as, for regulating the procedure in the matter of collection of Revenue by Subordinate Revenue Tribunals and Executive Functionaries. The Assignment policy in Andhra Area is governed by B.S.O – 15 and the orders issued in G.O.Ms.No.1407

Revenue Department dated.25-7-1958

(Appended) and orders issued thereon subsequently from time to time. The Assignment policy in Telangana Area is governed by A.P. (Telangana Area) Land Revenue Act, 1317 Fasli

(Sections 53-A, 54, 54-A & 58-B in

Chapter V) and orders issued in G.O.Ms.No. 1406 Revenue Department dated.25-7-1958 (Appended) and orders issued thereon subsequently. Nevertheless, the rules governing such assignment of lands and conditions of the grant of the Government lands are the same. SCOPE OF THE STANDING ORDER – 15 : This Standing Order applies to land at the disposal of Government other than (a) Building sites, in towns and villages (Standing Order No.21); (b) valuable lands relinquished land on which there are arrears of revenue (Standing Order No. 33-5); (c) land sold for arrears of revenue and bought in by Government (Standing Order No.45-2); and (d) land acquired by Government for public purposes but no longer required (Standing Order No. 90-32) [BSO 15 – 1(2- i)]. Government lands may be disposed of under the Standing Order for the landless poor persons free of market value. [BSO 15 – 1 –(2-ii)].

4

DEFINITIONS : Categories of Land : [BSO 15 – 2 (1-I&ii)] Ø

For the purpose of this Standing Order land may be classified thus : -

Land prima facie available for assignment.

(a)

Assessed land, which is not reserved.

(b)

Unassessed land, which is not reserved.

-

Land prima facie not available for assignment.

(a)

Poramboke.

(b)

Reserved land (“assessed” and “unassessed ”)

-

Unassessed land is land to which no classification and assessment have been assigned.

Reserved Land : [BSO 15 – 2 (2-I&ii)] Land is said to be “reserved” when it is earmarked as being required or likely to be required for special purposes, and entry being made in the settlement register and village adangal, and also in the Prohibitive Order Book.

The

following lands are prohibited from assignment. (G.O.Ms.No. 1142 Revenue Department dated.18-6-1954 – Appended). Ø

Tank beds, foreshore of tank beds, cattle stand, burial grounds, grazing grounds, lands reserved for depressed classes or for any public purpose.

Ø

Watercourse porambokes, lands in the vicinity of reserved forests, lands containing topes or valuable trees, lands within cantonment limits, lands reserved U/S 26 of Forest Act, lands within Port limits, lands in the vicinity of Railway Stations, Aerodromes or landing grounds, lands containing minerals, quarries etc., lands within the flood banks of rivers padugais.

Ø

Lands situated at District and Mandal Head Quarters, Municipal towns and Major Panchayat s except for the purpose of house sites andother needs of weaker sections of the society including Harijans, Girijans, B.Cs and E.B.Cs.

5

Landless Poor Person : A landless poor person means a person who does not own any land or who owns land not exceeding 2 1/2 acres of wet or 5 acres of dry and who is an agricultural labourer and whose annual income does not exceed Rs.11,000/ - (G.O.Ms.No.900 Revenue Department, dated. 11-7-1979 and G.O.Ms.No.940 Revenue Department, dated 24-11-1998 – Appended). Sivoijamadar : For the purpose of consideration of the claim for assignment of land, “Sivoijamadar” is one who has been in occupation of the land at the time of consideration for its assignment provided he had been in continuous occupation of the land from the fasli immediately preceeding the one in which the assignment is considered. Wetlands : Include irrigable dry lands but not garden lands. Project Affected Lands: It means all lands covered by Projects of the following categories, namely: Ø

Projects completed after the 15 th August, 1947;

Ø

Projects under execution;

Ø

Projects, the execution of which has already been sanctioned; and

Ø

Projects under investigation.

Direct Cultivation: Direct Cultivation shall mean cultivation by the assignee or the members of his family or with hired labour under the supervision of himself or a member of his family. Assigning Authority: The Tahsildars are the authorities competent to assign wet lands as well as dry lands not exceeding Acs 2 ½ of wet or 5 Acres of dry in each case to the landless poor applicants.

(G.O.Ms.No.1148 Revenue

Department dated.31-5-1960).

6

Assignable Lands: All lands at the disposal of Government except those prohibited may be assigned. The assignment of lands shall generally be free of market value except in the case of project affected lands in which case market value shall be collected.

The Government prescribed a time limit of 3 months for assignment of government lands from the date of receipt of application of the petitioner and that if assignment is not possible within the said time limit the same may be informed to the petitioner through a written endorsement within the time limit (Vide Govt. Memo No: 44677/Asn.(Pot-II) / 2007-1 Rev Dept. dt. 24-9-2007) Assignment Procedure: Ø

Application on plain paper can be accepted and entered in Dharakhast Register.

Ø

The land applied for should be verified whether it is prima facie available & eligible.

Ø

A-1 Notice should be published.

Ø

After the publication, A. Memorandum should be prepared by the M.R.I. and sent in duplicate with A.I notice and a sketch.

Ø

The resolution of Gram Panchayat should be obtained.

Ø

In case of poramboke land ayan conversion proposals have to be sent to R.D.O. concerned.

Ø

In case of trees and structures on the ground, notice in Form C.I for recovery of value of trees / structures shall be served on the applicant.

Ø

Lands assigned are subject to the conditions laid down by the Govt., and as prescribed in B.S.O. The land assigned is heritable but not alienable.

Ø

The assignment is liable for cancellation on violation of conditions.

Order of preference among the landless poor applicants: Among eligible landless poor applicants, preference shall be given to the people in the village where the lands are situated.

7

Among landless poor applicants, preference shall be given to the person who owns no land at all. As between Sivoijamadar and a non-Sivoijamadar, the Sivoijamadar who has been in continuous occupation of the land as defined in paragraph 3(2)(iii) above will get preference. A landless poor Sivoijamadar in cases of unobjectionable occupation shall get preference even as against a demobilized soldier in respect of those lands which are not reserved for Jawans. He shall not be dispossessed of the land provided he is eligible for its assignment, and provided he is not in occupation of any part of the land set a part for assignment to soldiers.

Preference shall be given to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Caste converted Christians and Other Backward Classes in the assignment of waste lands at the disposal of Government, the existing order in the matter of preference to landless poor sivoijamadars and political sufferers remaining unaffected.

Persons of Indian origin returning from Burma for rehabilitation in this State shall get priority next to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. If there are any persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes among the repatriates, they will get priority over other repatriates.

Procedure for Identification of beneficiaries for Land assignment ( Vide circular of CCLA Ref No: B1/2127/2007 dt 6-10-2007) 1. The Village Revenue Officer shall convene a meeting of all residents of the village where the land is available and identified for assignment. This meeting will be treated as the Grama Sabha of that village. Sufficient notice and publicity shall be given about where a meeting is called for. The details of lands proposed for Panchayat & local School. The Village Revenue Officer along with the Revenue Inspector shall prepare a list of landless poor persons who are eligible for assignment. It is regularization

8

of occupation the meeting which will be presided over by the Grama Panchayat Sarpanch, in which the village is located, the members of the Panchayat and Ward members of the village should also be invited. If there are any village level organizations such as Self Help Groups etc., they should also be invited. At the meeting, the VRO shall announce the details of land, Sivaijamadars and extent available and also the list of landless poor persons identified. The Grama Sabha meeting will scrutiny the list and prepare a final list of eligible landless poor persons keeping in mind that adequate percentage of beneficiaries belong to SC/ST, Minority, BC communities are covered where vacant land is proposed for assignment.

The proceedings of the Grama Sabha will be recorded,

showing the names of the people who have attended the meeting and signatures of the Sarpanch, VRO, RI shall be affixed to the list prepared. There after once the list is prepared, it shall be submitted to the MRO who will place the list and assignment proposal before the assignment Committee.

2. The beneficiaries for assignment of Government land are to be selected in the Grama Sabha meetings conducted in the village and the list be duly verified and recommended by the Grama Sabha.

3. Wide publicity has to be given about the date of convening of the Grama Sabha by beat of tom-tom in the village and steps are to be taken to ensure participation of the villages in large numbers. 4. The beneficiaries for assignment of Government should be landless poor from the below poverty line.

5. Poorest of the poor are to be identified on priority during the selection process. SC/ST/BC Community has to be given priority while selecting beneficiaries.

9

6. The list of the beneficiaries so selected has to be published at important places like Grama Chavidi, Village Secretariat, Grama Panchayat , School and other prominent places in the village.

7. The list of the selected beneficiaries, duly verified and recommended by the Grama Sabha has to be placed before the Assignment Committee for approval and for further action to assign the land for the landless poor, as per the decision of the Assignment Committee. Conditions of Assignment: The assignment of lands shall be subject to the following conditions: Ø

Lands assigned shall be heritable but not alienable.

Ø

Lands assigned shall be brought under cultivation within three years.

Ø

No land tax shall be collected for the first three years except for the extent, if any, which has already been brought under cultivation. Water rate shall, however be charged if the lands are irrigated with Government water; and

Ø

Cultivation should be by the assignee or the members of his family or with hired labour under the supervision of himself or a member of his family.

Mortgaging Assigned Lands for obtaining Loans: The lands assigned to landless persons may be mortgaged to the Government or to a Co-operative Society recognized by the Government including a land Mortgage Bank, Nationalised Bank (that is a corresponding New Bank as defined in the Banking Companies Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings Act, 1970), State Bank of India and its Subsidiaries and all Scheduled Banks, or the Panchayat Samithi for obtaining any loan for the development of the land. The loan to be advanced will be paid in instalments as fixed.

10

Resuming Authority: The Tahsildar who is the Assigning Authority shall be the authority competent to order Resumption in case of breach of the conditions of the grant. Appeals: Ø From every original decision of assignment of the Tahsildar., appeal is allowed within 30 days to the Divisional Officer or from the Divisional Officer to the Collector and within 40 days from the date of decision of the Collector to the CCLA. Ø A revision to the Collector against the orders of R.D.O. in appeals is also allowed. All appeals should be stamped with Court Fee label of Rs.5/-. Ø The above position shall apply also to the orders relating to resumption. Constitution of Assignment Review Committees: The Government have reconstituted the Assignment Review Committees with the following: M.L.A. of the Constituency Chairman R.D.O./Sub-Collector/Assistant Collector

-

Member

Tahsildar concerned

-

Member - Secretary

3 Social Workers a) One from SC/ST b) One from BC/Minorities c) One from Other Category (One among them shall be a woman)

Members

Respective Mandal President

-

Member

Respective ZPTC Members

-

Members

Municipal Chairman if the land is involved In the Municipal Area

-

Member

The Chairman, District Development Review Committee nominate the Social Workers. Duties of the Committee are available in the G.Os Annexed.

11

Officers empowered to transfer land from one head to another head: Collector

: To order transfer of poramboke from one head to another head [BSO 15(2)(3)]

Divisional Officers: a) Poramboke to assessed waste or ayan – unassessed waste to assessed waste. (G.O.Ms.No.1187 Revenue Department dated.2-9-1975. b) Withdrawal of land of Government from Gram Panchayat . (G.O.Ms.No.647 (PR. Pts-11) dt.2-11-1975) Tahsildars

:

Transfer assessed and unassessed land to Poramboke. [BSO 15(2)] (G.O.Ms.No.518 Revenue (D) Dept., dated. 28-5-1974.

*****

12

B.S.O – 21 :HOUSE SITES

This Standing Order governs the assignment of Govt. lands for the purpose of house sites in the villages and towns to the individuals, firms or societies either at free of cost or on payment of market value. The Rules in the Standing Order are intended to apply to assignment of sites for dwelling houses or cattle sheds and for similar purposes. The Rules relating to grant of house sites in village and towns in Telangana area are issued in G.O.Ms.No. 1546 Revenue (Q2) Department dated.26-4-1975, which are nevertheless similar to the rules in Andhra area.

1.

Quantum of area to be assigned; Ac 0-03 cents to each member

2.

Regularization of encroachments. The conversion proposals in case of assignment also applicable to house

sites and enclosures should be accompani ed. i)

Urban Area (G.O.Ms.No. 3250 Revenue (L) Dept., dated 24.07.1980 read with G.O.Ms.No. 361 Revenue (L) Dept., dt. 15.04.1980.

ii)

Rural Area (G.O.Ms.No. 4975 Revenue (C ) Dept., dated 10.12.1980 a. Eligibility: Income of a family should not exceed Rs. 11,000/- per month (Government Memo. No. 2224/L2/80-1) dated 05.02.1981.

b.

The encroacher shall not possess site or House elsewhere in the town/village.

c.

Each eligible encroacher shall be allotted 50 Sq. meters land or 140 Sq. Yards in the case of unobjectionable porambokes / slums, where the encroacher is proposed to be granted patta, 75% of the market value should be collected for the excess and, if he occupies more than 50 Sq.Meters of land.

13

d.

Consent of the applicant agreeing to pay market value of the land as fixed by the Government.<...